Music – Arts – Culture. Solbar is the crowning jewel in the tiara of Mooloolaba‘s ‘hip’ night-life scene. With a fantastic menu, incredible, locally sourced entertainment and an unbeatable beach side location, it’s hard to beat Solbar for your nightly mischief. With two live music stages there is music from Wednesday through Sunday featuring some amazing musical talent to help you get your ‘jive on’ while you pick and chose from the menu of pub classics with a modern gourmet twist.

The biggest names on the Solbar’s lineups are featured on the weekend, but for me the biggest draw card is Wednesday nights. Every Wednesday night is when the Solbar hosts the biggest open-mic night on the Sunshine Coast, with an incredible range of musicians and artists of varying skill and talent levels. When I first heard of this event I thought it might be worth checking out, if only for a laugh at the wannabes – but I discovered something quite unexpected. The night has a ‘first-come- first-served’ style, in that artists must show up early to sign up on the night, bringing their own instruments and whatever semblance of talent they may have, be that instrumental, vocal, musical or poetic. I decided to give it a go and headed down for the 7pm start and found a good vantage point to get the full experience of what raw talent the coast had to offer. It was definitely worth the trip.

First up on the night was a small three-piece band that did their thing and did it reasonably well – a very chilled out vibe that helped me relax whilst enjoying a beer. What really surprised me was what followed. A poet walked up on stage. She was an unassuming young lady, dressed like your typical 20-something girl you’d see walking the promenade out front. She then proceeded to blow my mind with a raw-poetic talent, and amazing word-play skills that changed my perceptions on just what to expect from the night. From that point on I continued to thoroughly enjoy my night out thanks to the great talent that hit the stage one after another. Apparently my getting up to dance was way too much of an embarrassment for my family.

I won’t claim that every act that night was a diamond in the rough, but it was definitely a great night out on ‘hump day’.

The Solbar is a pretty trendy place, with plenty of modern musical acts and very reasonable food, with different specials each night of the week. It’s definitely going to make my ‘local list’ with its mouth-watering menu and quirky entertainment.

For more information on Solbar, its menu, and its fantastic gig nights visit their website – definitely worth checking out on an otherwise flat night at home.